HOUGHTON — Some of the top performing athletes from the Salamanca boys and girls indoor track and field teams competed for the last time on Saturday in the Section 6 state qualifier meet at Houghton College.
Unlike the previous, when teams were divided by school size in the sectional championships, all athletes competed in the same field.
The Salamanca boys’ 800-meter (four-by-200) relay team — comprised of Jason McGraw, Jorden Ambuske, Arlen Newark and Archer Newark — had its best time of the season in the preliminaries, with a 1:40.57, to make it to the finals, where it would take sixth overall.
Arlen Newark also had a sixth-place individual finish in the 600-meter run at 1:29.60, after previously placing 10th in the long jump with a distance of 18-feet-7-inches.
“He has been working on a strong and determined mindset when heading into his events. He used this when he stepped to the starting line and ran the tough 600 meter event,” coach Michelle Hill said of Arlen Newark.
Arlen’s brother Archer Newark ran to 11th in the 300 with a time of :39.76.
McGraw ran the first event of the day for the Warriors in the 55-meter dash, running to 15th with a time of 7.29 seconds.
“It was a season of many firsts and PRs (personal records), and we are extremely proud of the group of young men and women that we had for Salamanca’s first year of indoor track,” Salamanca boys coach Michelle Hill said. “We look forward to many seasons to come!”
— On the girls’ side, the Warriors had one competing individual and one relay team.
Jillian Rea took 10th overall in the shot put, throwing for 26-feet-10.75-inches.
“It’s been a challenge to fine tune the technical aspects of this event with Jill as she doubled with basketball but she had a great season,” coach Laurie Lafferty-John said. “Today was not her best performance finishing 10th overall but the journey that got her here was rewarding and I hope spurs her confidence going into the outdoor season.”
Lafferty-John said the 3,200 relay team of Ryanna Brady, Aliyah Lee, Sierra Haynoski and Harley Brown exceeded her expectations, improving from a 12th seed going into the event to finish 11th. The team shaved 40 seconds off its best time to improve the new school record.
“These young ladies are some of the best students we have academically and work equally as hard at training,” Lafferty-John said. “It will be nice to have a few weeks of recovery before we begin our outdoor season.
“This entire season has been the season of firsts. Seeing the interest that has ignited in some new student athletes that had never experienced track and field before has been so awesome. It’s like getting bit by the bug. Once you experience the unique competition that is required in our sport versus a team sport, it really takes kids to a new level in their confidence.”
